Joe Hill
by thewibblywobblywolf
Summary: I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night / Alive as you and me / Says I, "But Joe, you're ten years dead" / "I never died," said he. Ace-centric reunion fic of a sort.


**AN: Semi-AU due to chapter 794.**

 **Heavily inspired by the song 'Joe Hill', my personal favourite rendition being by The High Kings, though I believe they aren't the only ones. I'd recommend checking out their stuff.**

 **I warn you; I do not take responsibility for possible feels that may appear or hurt you, but just in case, I'm sorry beforehand. (SORRY, SCARLET)**

 _I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,_

 _Alive as you and me._

 _Said I "But, Joe, you're ten years dead."_

 _"I never died," said he._

 _"I never died," said he._

Stretched out on the sand, Ace let out a content sigh. No matter how much he loved the Moby Dick he'd always love sleeping outside under the stars. It couldn't be helped, not with the way he'd spent his childhood. The fact that he was surrounded by his conked out brothers and sisters made it even better, despite their snoring and sleep talking, he was used to both.

The embers of their bonfire were dying, but he wasn't cold, warmed by the fire of his devil fruit and his nakama by his side. There wasn't a cloud in the sky - a perfect night for stargazing, if you liked doing so.

But Ace was brought off of his peaceful way to slumber by the sound of boots in the sand, pacing towards the second division, all asleep except Ace. He closed his eyes and strained his ears, opting to pretend to be asleep, but on guard, ready to protect his division. The steps came closer, walking past all of his crewmembers before they came to a stop mere feet away from him.

"I know you're awake, Ace," came an amused voice from right above him. Ace opened his eyes - no use pretending if it didn't fool the man - and came face to face with pale skin seeming to shine in the moonlight and piercing blue eyes that _couldn't be_ because the one with those eyes was dead.

"You're supposed to be dead," Ace said bluntly, voicing this thought, "You've been dead for ten years."

The man gave him a horribly sad and guilty smile.

"I never died," he said.

"The Celestial Dragon killed you, he shot you down. Dogra saw it all!"

"It takes more than that to kill me," the man above him said, tilting his familiar tophat to reveal a scar covering half of his face, prievously covered in shadow, "I didn't die."

Ace got to his feet slowly until he stood face to face with his long dead brother.

"We thought you died, Sabo," he says, arms hanging at his sides. He so dearly wants to reach out, to touch and confirm that this isn't an alcohol induced halluncination, or one of the many dreams that have visited him since Dogra came bursting into Dadan's mountain hut, proclaiming Sabo's fate.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I'm more sorry than I will ever be able to say," Sabo said, voice heavy with guilt. That's when Ace reached out, brushing his fingers over the clear skin on his right cheek, feeling the impossibly real warmth that he emitted. He was real. He grasped his brother's cheek fully, bringing up his other hand to hold his other cheek, the one covered in the terrible scar, the one that shouldn't be there, but that Ace still was strangely thankful for, because it meant that he had lived to acquire a scar, the fire hadn't killed him. _He was real_.

"We've missed you," Ace choked out, throat suddenly feeling constricted and tight as he pulled the brother he thought he lost ten yerars ago into a tight hug.

"I love you too, you and Lu." Sabo understood, of course, he'd always understood what Ace wouldn't or couldn't quite say.

"Where have you been?" Ace said when they pulled apart, keeping a firm hold on his brother's shoulders.

Sabo's face lit up when he got the question, and with smiling eyes he motioned for Ace to sit down on the log he had previously been using as a pillow, sitting down himself right next to him.

"I've been with the Revolutionary Army. We help people, from South Blue to West Blue, from North Blue to East Blue to the Grand Line, we help people escape dictatorships, slavery and the control of the World Government. We free people, Ace," he said it with such pride and such happiness that Ace couldn't help but be happy for him too, because that's what Sabo had always wanted; freedom. And to be able to free other people as well must be exceptional for him. It suited him, possibly even better than piracy ever would've.

"Tell me about your nakama?" Ace asked, and Sabo obliged, talking about a girl called Koala, a fishman named Hack and a man named Dragon, of whom he wasn't really supposed to talk, but did anyways because this was _Ace_. When he was finished he urged Ace to do the same, to tell him about his adventures and nakama and _however he ended up as a Whitebeard Pirate?_

And Ace did. He recounted how he first met Jinbe and later Whitebeard, how Thatch was very annoying at first but eventually grew on him, how he failed his many attempts at taking Whitebeard's life, how Marco helped him decide what to do, how Pops accepted him despite his heritage. He talked about his first crew and his new shipbrothers and sisters, and threw in a few anecdotes about Luffy, because if Ace missed the brat after less than three years then Sabo definitely did after ten.

They continued on into the wee hours of the morning, but finally ended up recounting stories of stupid things Luffy had done over the years, from when he got eaten by a crocodile to the time when he tried to swallow a five feet long fish in one bite.

After a while, however, Ace's vision started to go fuzzy and his head started to get warm, and he cursed himself because _now wasn't the time for a narcolepsy fit._ But of course Sabo noticed.

"Sleep," he said, and Ace couldn't help but do as he said. He nearly fell over, but Sabo caught him and lowered him to the ground.

"Sleep well, big brother. We'll see each other again."

Then Sabo brushed a few strands of hair from his forehead and placed a kiss there, one that they both knew he wouldn't have had Ace been fully awake. He fiddled with something in his pocket and tucked the something into Ace's hat, which he had taken off halfway through the night. Ace didn't know what happened after that, because despite how much he didn't want to he fall asleep he succumbed to darkness at last.

The next morning he woke up feeling groggy and like he had forgotten something, and then he remembered Sabo and how he had been _there_. He looked around wildly for any sign of his brother, but found none but half awake and fully asleep second division crewmembers and a dead bonfire.

He closed his eyes. He didn't want it to have been a dream. He had had similar so many times before, but he had never wished harder that it wasn't a dream than he did in that moment. He put his hat on and got up. A white piece of paper fluttered to the ground when the hat was turned upside down and he picked it up, finding it blank. He still tucked it away in his pocket, feeling that it might be important.

He thought back to the last thing he had heard Sabo say; "We'll see each other again." He hoped it was the truth, because no matter how much he wanted to there was no way he'd be able to find out if Sabo actually had been there or not, just like he never had before.

Almost a year later Ace stood on his knees in the middle of a battlefield, his little brother's arms wrapped around his shoulders and a hole on his chest and thought that whether Sabo had been there or not that night, his promise - much like the one Ace himself had made to Luffy ten years ago about never dying - was broken.

 _I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,_

 _Alive as you and me._

 _Says I, "But Joe, you're ten years dead"_

 _"I'll never die," said he_

 _"I'll never die," said he._


End file.
